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Report: Frequency of cyberattacks in 2022 has increased by almost 3M

Investigator detecting a cyber attack on a hydroelectric power plant. Energy industry and technology concept for cybercrime, hacking into critical infrastructure assets, incident investigation.
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Kaspersky has released a new report revealing a growing number of cyberattacks on small businesses in 2022 so far. Researchers compared the period between January and April 2022 to the same period in 2021, finding increases in the numbers of Trojan-PSW detections, internet attacks and attacks on Remote Desktop Protocol.

In 2022, the number of Trojan-PSW (Password Stealing Ware) detections increased globally by almost a quarter compared to the same period in 2021 一 4,003,323 to 3,029,903. Trojan-PSW is a malware that steals passwords, along with other account information, which then allows attackers to gain access to the company network and steal sensitive information.

Internet attacks grew from 32,500,000 globally in the analyzed period of 2021 to almost 35,400,000 in 2022. These can include web pages with redirects to exploits, sites containing exploits and other malicious programs, botnet C&C centers and more.

The number of attacks on Remote Desktop Protocol grew in the U.S. (while dropping slightly globally), going from 47.5 million attacks in the first trimester of 2021 to 51 million in the same period of 2022. With the widespread shift toward remote work, many companies have introduced Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP), a technology that enables computers on the same corporate network to be linked together and accessed remotely, even when the employees are at home.

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With small business owners typically handling numerous responsibilities at the same time, cybersecurity is often an afterthought. However, this disregard for IT security is being exploited by cybercriminals. The Kaspersky study sought to assess the threats that pose an increasing danger to entrepreneurs.

Read the full report by Kaspersky.